Welcoming the new coach
There are always two people who are more popular than anyone else in NFL history, the back-up quarterback and the new head coach. The No.2 passer is always perfect, never makes a mistake and will always be expected by internet pundits to be the second coming of Johnny Unitas. The new coach is, well, just not the old coach.

Lovie Smith is the new head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Which of courses makes him incredibly popular because he is not Greg Schiano. Rewind 24 months and Greg was toast of the month because he was not Raheem. It is always the way (except 1987 when no-one was that pleased Ray Perkins was actually Ray Perkins).

Although I was pretty vocal about the need to see the back of Greg Schiano, I stand by my comments all along that he was the right man for the job at the time. Just as Raheem was the right person in January 2009.

One of the Bucs PR team made an interesting comment to me this week about it being more personal when you walk past an assistant coaches' office and see them packing their belongings into a box. Which makes it a lot more than just a note at the bottom of the scrolling news ticker on ESPN.

I remember when all the assistants were let go after the 2011 season and my wife's first comment was "what are Greg Olson's family going to do now?". Greg of course moved to become offensive co-ordinator for the Raiders but for his wife Lissa, it meant leaving her job coaching track at USF and moving across the country with their twins who of course also had to change school and friends. But the NFL stands for "Not for Long" when you do not win and when coaches do not win, then they move on.

Right now Lovie Smith has not even won a game for the Buccaneers but he is a hero because he is undefeated. He has ties to happier days gone by and everyone loves him right now. Players will always say the right thing unless they are on Twitter and do not stop to think about the potential implications (that's you Da'Quan). The media will be positive, the fans will be ecstatic and the memories of the 2013 season will quickly fade.

There are seven months before the Buccaneers next take the field to play an opponents. There is free agency and the draft. There are off-season workouts and mini-camps. People often say that a week is a long time in politics. Well it has been a week since the depressing loss to the Saints - do you think things have changed since then?